Matthew 23
23
Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses
(Mark 12.38-40; Luke 11.37-52; 20.45-47)
1Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3So obey everything they teach you, but don't do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.
4They pile heavy burdens on people's shoulders and won't lift a finger to help. 5#Mt 6.1; Dt 6.8; Nu 15.38. Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels#23.5 wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms … tassels: As a sign of their love for God and his teachings, the Jewish people often wore Scripture verses in small leather boxes. But the Pharisees tried to show off by making the boxes bigger than necessary. The Jewish people were also taught to wear tassels on the four corners of their robes to show their love for God. for everyone to see. 6They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues. 7And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.
8But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. 9Don't call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. 10None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. 11#Mt 20.26,27; Mk 9.35; 10.43,44; Lk 22.26. Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. 12#Lk 14.11; 18.14. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.
13-14You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You won't go in yourselves, and you keep others from going in.#23.13,14 from going in: Some manuscripts add, “You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! And you're nothing but show-offs! You cheat widows out of their homes and then pray long prayers just to show off. So you will be punished most of all.”
15You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.
16You are in for trouble! You are supposed to lead others, but you are blind. You teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the temple. But you say it does matter if someone swears by the gold in the temple. 17You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18You also teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the altar. But you say it does matter if someone swears by the gift on the altar. 19Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple also swears by God, who lives there. 22#Is 66.1; Mt 5.34. To swear by heaven is the same as swearing by God's throne and by the one who sits on that throne.
23 #
Lv 27.30. You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either. 24You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.
25You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean.
27 #
Ac 23.3. You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You're nothing but show-offs. You're like tombs that have been whitewashed.#23.27 whitewashed: Tombs were whitewashed to keep anyone from accidentally touching them. A person who touched a dead body or a tomb was considered unclean and could not worship with the rest of the Jewish people. On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. 28That's what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.
29You Pharisees and teachers are nothing but show-offs, and you're in for trouble! You build monuments for the prophets and decorate the tombs of good people. 30And you claim you would not have taken part with your ancestors in killing the prophets. 31But you prove you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets. 32So keep on doing everything they did. 33#Mt 3.7; 12.34; Lk 3.7. You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?
34I will send to you prophets and wise people and experts in the Law of Moses. You will kill them or nail them to a cross or beat them in your synagogues or chase them from town to town. 35#Gn 4.8; 2 Ch 24.20-22. That's why you will be held guilty for the murder of every good person, beginning with the good man Abel. This also includes Barachiah's son Zechariah,#23.35 Zechariah: Genesis is the first book in the Jewish Scriptures, and it tells that Abel was the first person to be murdered. Second Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Scriptures, and the last murder that it tells about is that of Zechariah. the man you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I can promise that you people living today will be punished for all these things!
Jesus Loves Jerusalem
(Luke 13.34,35)
37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn't let me. 38#Jr 22.5. And now your temple will be deserted. 39#Ps 118.26. You won't see me again until you say,
“Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.”
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Matthew 23: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Matthew 23
23
1Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; 3so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. 4#Lk 11.46; Acts 15.10. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear,#23.4 Other ancient authorities omit hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. 5#Mt 6.1; 5.16; Ex 13.9; Deut 6.8; Mt 9.20. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6#Mk 12.38-39; Lk 20.46; 14.7-11; 11.43. and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. 8#Jas 3.1. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. 9And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. 11#Mt 20.26; Mk 9.35; 10.43; Lk 9.48; 22.26. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; 12#Lk 14.11; 18.14; Mt 18.4; 1 Pet 5.6. whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 #
Lk 11.52. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. 14#23.14 Other authorities add here (or after verse 12) verse 14, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation 15#Acts 2.10; 6.5; 13.43. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell#23.15 Greek Gehenna as yourselves.
16 #
Mt 5.33-37; 15.14. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17#Ex 30.29. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, ‘If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21#1 Kings 8.13; Ps 26.8. and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 #
Lk 11.42; Lev 27.30; Mic 6.8. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 #
Lk 11.39-41; Mk 7.4. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. 26You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 #
Lk 11.44; Acts 23.3; Ps 5.9. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 #
Lk 11.47-48; Acts 7.51-53. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33#Mt 3.7; Lk 3.7. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?#23.33 Greek Gehenna 34#Lk 11.49-51; 2 Chron 36.15-16. #Mt 10.17,23. Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35#Gen 4.8; Heb 11.4; Zech 1.1; 2 Chron 24.21. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36#Mt 10.23; 16.28; 24.34. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.
37 #
Lk 13.34-35. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38#1 Kings 9.7; Jer 22.5. Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate.#23.38 Other ancient authorities omit and desolate 39#Mt 21.9; Ps 118.26. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America